Electric railway.



No. 636,937. Paten ted Nov. I4, 1899.

. W. H. WRIGHT.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

(Application filed Oct. 31, 1898.) (No I flodel.) 3 Sheets-Sheet l,

FIG. .I

Witnesses: Inventor n: scams PETERS 00.. movau'mou WASHINGTON, a;

Patented Nov. l4, I899.

lnventoxi 3 Sheets-Shoat 2 W H W RI G H T ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

(Application filed Oct. 31, 1898.)

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No. 636,937. Patented Nov. l4, I399.

w. H. WRIGHT. ELECTRIC RAILWAY;

(Application filed Oct. a1, 1898.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

i 15; P A; =2 Inventor:

Attorneys.

of the third rail. 7

of a single track provided with my improved UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICFZO W ILLIAM I-I. WRIGHT, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,937, dated November14, 1899.

Application filed October 31, 1898. Serial No. 695,108. (No model.)

T0 at whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Buffalo', in the county of Erie and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inMethods of and Means forMagneto-Electrical Propulsion of Railway- Oars and I do hereby declarethat the follow ing description of my said invention, taken inconnection with the accompanying sheets of drawings, forms a full,clear, and exact specification, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention has general reference to method of and means for magnetoelectric' propulsion of railway-cars; and it consists, essentially, inthe novel and peculiar combination of parts and details of construction,as hereinafter first fully set forth and described and then pointed outin the claims.

In the drawings already referred to, which serve to illustrate my saidinvention more fully, Figure 1 is an end elevation of a railway car orcoach. Fig. 2 is a-transverse sectional elevation of the same in line 5z of Fig. 3-. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal elevation, partly in section, ofa railway-car truck, a portion of the car-body being shown 'in dottedlines, this figure also illustrating, diagrammatically, the Wiring ofthe car as far as necessary to a full understanding of the operation ofmy said invention.

of Fig. 5, showing a set of horseshoe-magnets in thethird rail inoperative connection with the conductor and the magnetized top sectionFig. 7 is a plan of a portion system of conducting the current from .agenerating-station to the motor on the car.

Like parts are designated by corresponding letters of reference in allthe figures.

The object of this invention is the propulsion of railway-cars by meansof electricity conveyed over a conductor located within a third rail,connection between said conductor and the car-motor being made by meansof an intermediary operated by magnetism and Fig. etis a longitudinalsectional elevation in line am of Fig. 5 of the so called a trolleylocated below the car-body and traveling upon f the top portion of thethird rail,

said third rail being made a temporary conductor by magnets, (alsolocated below the car-body and in close proximity to the top portion ofthe third rail,) attracting magnets located within said third rail andsuspended from and always in metallic conductive contact with thetemporary conductor, thereby track-rails B B, as shown in the plan inFig. '7. This third rail is composed of a base-section A A, Figs. 4 and5, of substantially U shape and having longitudinal laterally-projecting flanges a, by means of which the third rail is carried upon andfastened to the ties or sleepers C in a proper and efficientmanner.

Into this base-section A is fitted an intermediate section A", also of Ushape and having laterally-projecting flanges a, to which is properlybolted the top section A of said third rail, it being deemed advisableto make the base and the intermediate sections of the third rail of theusual lengths and locating the intermediate section so as to breakjoints with the base-sections, but to make the top sections ofcomparatively very short pieces, the object of which will hereinaftermore fully appear. These top sections are bolted to the lateral flangesof the intermediate sections at suitable intervals by bolts a, and theintermediate sections are properly secured to the base-sections by boltsa, the top and in termediate sections of this compound rail, which, as amatter of fact, constitutes a conduit, being properly insulated byinsulators B to prevent grounding of the current.- Within theintermediate section A there is formed longitudinally a slightdepression, which is properly insulated by insulating substance ormaterial B and upon which insulating material is placed the conductor D,one end of which is connected to the electric generator at any suitablesupply-station, the return of which is through one or both of thetrackrails in the usual manner. I prefer as a conductor a cable ofmetallic strands properly twisted and non-covered, although a singlewire of suificient capacity may in some cases ICO be found adequate toconvey the electric energy to the car or cars. \Vithin this intermediatesection is furthermore placed a series of horseshoe-magnets E with theirrespective poles facing each other. These horseshoemagnets are pivotedto brackets e, bolted to the lower side of the top sections A'- by bolts6, by means of pivots 6. Near the curved portion of thesehorseshoe-magnets and on the lower side of the lower members thereofthere are secured extensions F, whichl shall hereinafter term brushes,being metallic pieces so arranged that when the said horseshoe-magnetsare in their normal or horizontal position (shown in Fig. 4) thesebrushes F are not in contact with the conductor D, the horseshoe-magnetsbeing held in their normal position by studs E, projecting from the upper arm of the magnets E and bearing against the lower side of the topsections A', and by springs E, secured to the top sections and bearingwith their free ends upon the upper arm of the horseshoe-magnets, sothat normally there is no connection between the conductor and the topsection of the third rail.

Referring now to Fig. 3, Sheet 2, of the drawings, it will be observedthat between the two car-axles are located electromagnets G of usualconstruction, which electromagnets will be kept in an excited stateeither from the cond uctor D or from an independent source of electricenergy, such as a storage battery H, suitably located about the car, orany other suitable means, in a manner hereinafter more fully described.These electromagnets are secured to standards or other suitable supportsG, fastened to the truckframe G, the details of which depend upon theindividual construction of the car-truck, and may be varied to suitdifferent conditions without departing from my invention.

Between the e'lectromagnets is suspended a trolley I, the wheel 1' ofwhich rolls upon and cont-acts with the upper surface of the top sectionA, the trolley being composed of a frame I, having centrally a spindlet", sustained in a standard I, a spiral spring 1' keeping thetrolley-wheel in contact with the upper surface of the top section, itbeing understood that the trolley-wheel is properly insulated from itssupporting-frame and that the current is taken from its hub in the usualand well-known manner, the details of which, not forming a part of thispresent application, having been omitted from the drawings.

In operation the conductor D is charged with a direct, intermittent,alternating, or other current from a main or generating station, thecurrent being suitable to drive the motor M of the car. To first startthis motor, the electromagnets G are excited from a suitable source ofelectric energy, so as to magnetize the top section A of the compoundthird rail, which will cause the attraction of the horseshoe-magnets E,directly underneath the bar-magnets G, and the brushes F coming incontact with the conductor D allow the electric current to pass throughthe respective horseshoe magnet or magnets and electrically charge thecorresponding top section A, from whence the electric current will betaken up by the trolley-wheel and communicated to the electric motor M,it being under stood that the wires leading from the trolley pass to aswitch S on the car in the present well-known manner, the details ofwhich I do not deem it necessary to here describe, for the reason thatthey are foreign to my present invention, it being further understoodthat my present system of conveying the electric current from theconductor to the car is capable of transmitting the various kinds ofelectric energy and is applicable to any and every system of electricmotor propulsion now in vogue. The electric current passing through themotor moves the car, so that as the electromagnets G move along theywill successively cause the attraction of the respectivehorseshoe-magnets and establish connection between the conductor and thecar. It will now be seen that there are at no time while the car ismoving more than one or two or a few of the top sections A electricallycharged and that therefore this system of communicating electriccurrents from a conductor to a car through a third rail avoids thedangers at present attending the'employment of continually-charged thirdrails. As soon as the car is moving the electromagnets G will beelectrically excited by the main current; but should at any time themain current be cut off from failure of the horseshoe-magnets operatingproperly an automatic switch of usual construction placed upon the carwill immediately act to establish a circuit, and thereby to excite theelectromagnets G and magnetize the top section A and attract therespective horseshoe-magnets to reestablish the connection between theconductor and the top section or temporary conductor.

The storage battery H may be kept continually charged from the maincurrent by suitable wiring, the interposition of proper resistance, &c.,in the well-known manner, or it may be charged at any station andremoved and replaced when necessary, at the option of the operators ofthe line.

It is obvious that the top sections of the third rail should be rolledfrom a very soft quality of iron, while the intermediate and basesections may be rolled from commercial iron or steel. It is,furthermore, obvious that suitable drainage may be provided for toproperly drain the third rail whenever necessary or desirable.

I have shown in Fig. 3 a standard truck of a four-wheeled street-car;but it is evident that my invention, with the exception of minor changesin the details, is applicable to any and every kind of car-truck ofstreet and other railways and that it requires for its adoption nochanges whatever in the generating plant, nor in the motors, the wiringof the cars, &c.

It will be noticed that the temporary conductor hereinbefore mentionedconsists of a series of sections of the cover for the conduit I and thateach section of this cover has pivoted within brackets attached to itslower side a pair of horseshoe-magnets, said permanent magnets beinglocated in vertical planes and pivoted to said brackets by pivotspassing through the upper members of said permanent magnets near theircurved portion, the pole ends of permanent magnets being, as it were,the longer arm of a lever, while the curved or neutral portion thereofis the shorter arm. The pole ends therefore predominate in weight andwill cause the depression of these pole ends, (by gravity and assistedby the rather weak curved springs E,) so that these permanent magnetsare normally held in a horizontal position, assisted by the stops E,made from non-conducting material and non-contacting with the mainconductor, but at all times forming, as it were, a part of the temporaryconductor and in conductive contact therewith. The result of this novelconstruction, is that the moment the electromagnet approaches the fieldof the temporary conductor and commences to magnetically influence thesame this influence will also and immediately be felt by theintermediaries, the pole ends of which will quickly rise and therebycause the brushes on their lower members tocontact with the mainconductor, thus insuring positive and efficient action of theintermediaries and the establishment of acircuit. It will be furtherobserved that there is an electromagnet in front, as well as in therear, of the trolley, so that the magnetic influence exerts itself andcauses the making of contact of the intermediaries with the temporaryand the main conductor before the trolley reaches themagneticallyexcited section of the temporary conductor, and that thissection remains magnetically excited for some time after the trolley hasleft the same, so that no sparking or the forming of an arc can takeplace.

I have shown in the drawings the pivotal point of the permanent magnetsnear the curved portion, it being desirable to locate the pivotal pointas near the curved portion as possible to render the magnetic influenceupon these permanent magnets as eflicient as possible.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure to me by Letters Patent of the United States 1. In amagneto-electric system of propelling cars, a conduit, aconductor insaid conduit, a temporary conductor parallel with said main conductor,intermediaries between the main and temporary conductors, means on thecar formagnet-ically influencing the temporary conductor, a contactingdevice on said car, suitable wiring thereon, and a motor on sections ofmagnetically-excitable material insulated from each other and from theconduit, means for successively magnetically exciting portions of saidcover, and intermediaries between the sections of said cover and saidconductor, said intermediaries consisting of a series of pairs ofpermanent magnets located in vertical planes within said conduit, and'with their polesopposite each other, each section of said cover havinga pair of said magnets, said permanent magnets being pivoted to bracketspending from the lower surface of said cover-section and engaging theupper members of the said horseshoe-mag nets, the pivotal points of saidpermanent magnets being near the curved portion thereof, and extensionsor brushes securedto the lower members of said permanent magnets andprojecting from their curved portions as described, whereby the poleends of the permanent magnets will, when attracted by themagnetically-excited cover-sections, move toward the said section andbring the projecting brushes from the lower members toward and intocontact with the conductor, as and for the object stated.

3. In an electrically-propelled railway system, a conductor consistingof two U-shaped rails one of which is placed within the other, amagnetically-excitable cover to said rails composed of short sectionsinsulated one from the other and the rails, a conductor within the saidU-shaped rails, horseshoe-magnets suspended from said cover andcontacting therewith, and means substantially as described formagnetically exciting a short portion of said cover, whereby byattracting said horseshoe-magnets a circuit is established between saidconductor and the magneticallyexcited portion of said cover, asspecified.

4. In an electrically-operated railway system, aconductor-rail composedof a U -shaped base-section having longitudinally-projecting flanges, anintermediate U--shaped section located within said base-section andsecured thereto, longitudinal lateral1y-project ing flanges on saidintermediate section, a cover for the latter section composed of shortpieces of magnetically-excitable material, a conductor located withinthe intermediate section and properly insulated therefrom, a

series of horseshoe-magnets pivoted to brackets suspended fromsaid'cover, brushes on said magnets normally prevented from contactingwith said conductor, and means for successively exciting sections of thecover magnetically, whereby-said covers will cause the attraction of theopen ends of the horseshoe-1n agnets and cause the brushes to contactwith the conductor, as stated.

5. In an electrically-operated railway system, the combination, with aconduit having a magnetically-excitable cover composed of shortsections, of a series of horseshoe-magnets having their poles inopposition, brackets secured to the lower sides of said coversections,pivots in the upper members of said horseshoe-magnets and engaging saidbrackets, studs on the upper members of said magnets and arranged tocontact with the lower side of said cover, and springs arranged todepress the free ends of said horseshoe-magnets, as described.

6. In an electrically-operated railway sys- -W. I-I. WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

MICHAEL J. STARK, MICHAEL J. STARK, J r.

